Saturday, March 30, 2013

Nick&Jeremy, Cleveland Public Theatre

This review is an
experiment, a daring cutting-edge venture. To participate you have options:

A) Read the entire review as
written.

B) Read only the plain-type
paragraphs for a rave.

C) Read only the italicized
paragraphs for a pan.

D) Read any of the paragraphs
you want, in any order, to create your own unique review experience.

Please put on your lab coat
and safety goggles. Ready? Here goes:

Did
you ever notice that every driver who drives faster than you is a reckless
jerk, and that every driver who drives slower than you is an ignorant pus-wad?
That format is the core of observational humor, and it’s how the fascinating
devised play, Nick&Jeremy, is structured.

This show, now at Cleveland
Public Theatre and co-produced by Theater Ninjas, is like high-level
observational humor without the punch lines. Sure, there are some occasional
laughs, but many of the philosophical queries (Who am I? How long can you remember
the universe is inside your head?) come across as blindingly sophomoric.

Created
and performed by the eponymous Nick Riley and Jeremy Paul, the evening is a
casual assemblage of thoughts and musings (ie. Did you ever have the urge,
while standing on a high bridge, to throw yourself off? Did you ever want to
write a letter to your younger self?). These forays try to gently pry apart the
differences between imagination and reality. between personal awareness and
universal interconnectedness.

Philosophy is fine, as far
as it goes. But there’s a reason plays by real philosophers, such as Sartre and
Camus, feature actual characters and real (if sometimes obscure) plot
lines. The theatrical experience demands genuine characters and conflict, not
just two guys hanging out who get along great and, you know, totally get where
the other is coming from.

By
avoiding the traditional trap of crafting two fully formed characters, Paul and
Riley are able to isolate particular queries without the additional baggage of
backstory and exposition. Utilizing two turntables for incidental music, a mic,
and a drumset, the two performers weave various layers of sound into their
mystical mix.

In the absence of conflict,
N&J gives us the two guys sitting at a coffee shop table asking each other
the kind of questions over-caffeinated, self-involved young dudes contemplate (with
the notable absence of sex talk). Then they take turns expounding on
microscopic “wonders,” such as somehow intuiting a distant friend is calling
when the phone rings. Golly, Mr. Wizard! How did that happen??

This
compelling ride begins and ends with the performers interacting with the
audience, shaking hands and sharing thoughts. These moments allow the play to
take off and land in a smooth and less artificial way than most plays, providing
a seamless entry and exit from the heady, intellectually challenging material.

By utilizing some grip-and grin
activity before and after the show, the performers pretend they’re not really different
than the audience when, in fact, they are. This is the reverse of
audience participation and leads to some cornball exchanges that feel
excruciating (“And where did you come from tonight? Akron? Wow.”).

So,
does Nick&Jeremy succeed in exploring the differences between consciousness
and reality? That is hardly the right question. Better to ask if this show expands
your ability to see inside yourself, and outside yourself into the greater
world, with a new sense of specificity and curiosity. And the answer to that
question is a definitive yes.

Since Nick&Jeremy
doesn’t provide characters who have anything at stake, other than a poorly
brewed espresso, the audience feels no need to involve itself in this enterprise.
And so it ends neither with a bang nor a whimper, but with a shrug.

This review experiment is
now concluded. On your way out, please put your coat and goggles in the proper
bins for sterilizing. And should you find yourself vexed that this review never
adopted a definitive point of view…well, yeah.

Nick &
Jeremy

Through April 13 at Cleveland
Public Theatre, 6415 Detroit Avenue, 216-631-2727

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About Me

is an award-winning theater critic, having been named Best Critic in Ohio by both the Press Club of Cleveland and the Society of Professional Journalists. She is currently the theater critic for Cleveland Scene. She has also reviewed plays for The Plain Dealer, Cleveland Free Times and City Pages in Minneapolis, MN. Christine acted and directed locally, primarily at Dobama Theatre, from 1969-1984.